[MicroRNA-33b inhibits cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma via targeting SALL4]

To investigate the expression of miR-33b in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to explore regulatory mechanism of miR-33b for cell proliferation of HCC.

HCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues were collected for this study (n=32 for each). Real-time PCR and Western blot were conducted to examine the mRNA and protein expression, respectively. MTT assay was used to detect the cell proliferation. Luciferase reporter gene assay was performed to verify the target relationship between miR-33b and Sal-like 4 (SALL4).

MiR-33b was significantly downregulated in HCC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. Overexpression of miR-33b decreased the proliferation of HCC LH86 cells. SALL4 was identified as a target gene of miR-33b, and its protein expression was negatively regulated by miR-33b. Overexpression of SALL4 reversed the suppressive effect of miR-33b on LH86 cell proliferation. SALL4 was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues.

The miR-33b suppresses HCC cell proliferation through down-regulation of SALL4.